The other day, during the course of my very serious research (read: half-asleep, cruising the Japanese interwebs), I discovered Japanese beef.

Apparently underground rappers Seeda and Oki of Geek had taken offense to something in the outro of the Teriyaki Boyz’ (probably only known in the States (and Japan) for showing up on Youtube videos wearing Bape and dancing around with Kanye) new single, “Serious Japanese”. They then proceeded to air their frustrations in public by recording a dis track (complete with accompanying video) and posting it up on Seeda’s blog.

Check the video below:

SEEDA & OKI from GEEK – TERIYAKI BEEF

The two lines which we will be tackling today are below:

一人はビッチで後はカス you are serious? へそが茶を沸かすOne of you is a bitch, the others are trash. You are serious? Don’t make me laugh

二番煎じはニガの機嫌取り ass hall ガバガバ ＄をばらまくYou’re played out, just trying to make the niggers* like you. Assholes**, throwing money around

*Ostensibly, the black rappers/producers they’re associated with. I could have used the “nigga” form, but it’s being used more as an insult here, so it’s sort of in between a swap-word for “dude” and an actual proper racial slur.
**I think that’s what they meant.

Note that the above is a really loose translation. If you have a more eloquent one, let me know and I’ll fix it.

Oh yes, shouts to VTS for this week’s image design and some insight on the lyrics. Also shouts to ミスターポポ.

So yeah. Pretty much every underground Japanese rap fan is aware of this dis, the Teriyaki Boyz’ Verbal has responded to it on his blog and mentioned it on his podcast, and it’s been picked up on every site I can find – but there’s one angle that hasn’t been touched – the fact that in the first twenty seconds, somebody drops the N-bomb.

I thought it was interesting. So today, using this dis track as a starting point, we’ll look at some of the different ways we can look at this phenomenon (if you want to call it that), some of the background on how we got to this point, and in the end, I guess, look a little closer at the situation as it is at home.

A lot of talking, a lot of what will likely come off as little more than pointless theorizing, but at the very least, an awful lot of dope music.

Re-Up Gang – Real Niggas. I didn’t actually sit down and listen to the whole mixtape, but I do dig this cut. I had a conversation at a ramen shop this morning (somebody needs to tell these dudes that letting customers in at 3:AM, handing them soup, and then closing down at 3:20 is not funny) about the above dis track, and he said “Dex, you know that for these guys, ‘nigga’ just means ‘guy’”. If so, this song gives more than a few real-life examples of how to use the word – actually, this one goes above and beyond and expands on it, giving you the macho angle on the word as well. myspace.com/ablive

Stat Quo – I’m Sorry. As I said in the episode, this stands on its own as a piece of art. All of these songs do. You don’t have to “agree” with what the dude is saying – since when did we start judging art with a PC ruler? But dig dude’s stance on the word: “They can’t say it but we can…Look at the power we hold in our hand”. And while this dude does make an attempt at showing respect towards women, this song is sort of uncompromisingly misogynistic – if you spelled it out in mathematical terms, bitch characteristics = “female” characteristics = undesirable characteristics. A = B = C, thus A = C, Q.E.D. This is sort of a theme throughout a good number of these songs. myspace.com/statquo

beatro 4: Jr Don – Bring In Black 2

Tribe Called Quest – Sucka Nigga. I guess this is the most palatable song of any of these for the PC set. That said, there’s not much substantially different from Q-Tip’s and Stat Quo’s stances on the word. myspace.com/atribecalledquest

Three 6 Mafia – Watcha Starin At feat Lil Jon. Sort of had to put these dudes in here. Lil Jon was possibly the root cause of white frat dudes screaming “nigga whut” at college parties from ’03-06′. At least from what I saw.

Tahir – You Don’t Know Me. Probably the most challenging cut on here. Make no mistake about it, though – as the dude says, the sentiments expressed on this record aren’t rare, and they aren’t new. Lyrics to rewind and contemplate: “It’s my right to say this right here. This is my shit. This is my hood, and you’re in it“.

Jayo Felony – Don’t Call Me Nigga. I’m realizing that it’s starting to look like I put a large portion of this together just doing a search in my iTunes folder for “nigga”. Early 90s west coast. A lot of prison rap on this particular album, for good reason. myspace.com/jayofelony

MC Tucker and DJ Irv - Where Dey At? Probably a couple hooks in here you’ll recognize. Obviously this is just the intro, but the rest of the song sorta does the same thing.

You know, maybe I should have said this earlier, but I’m not here on some NAACP whining about how the word itself is bad. I’m not really interested in “nigga” right now beyond its use as a tool here to give us a look at a bigger issue. You know, just putting that out there.

Sporty T – Sporty Talkin 93. Edited. Note how “niggas” and “brothers” is used absolutely interchangeably. The first time I ever saw the Beef DVD series was in Japan (they got all 3 out here). Subtitles. And every time the dudes on TV said “that nigga this, a real nigga wouldn’t that, I don’t like them niggas”, etc, the “nigga” was translated as “黒人” “black person”. Sometimes 黒人男性, “black male”. So if you want to go with the “ignorance of the weight of the word” route, this would be a good thing to cite. Also I’m realizing now that I didn’t talk about bitches as much as I promised – maybe some other time. myspace.com/sportyt504

Jayo Felony – Niggas and Bitches. This was released as a radio single, believe it or not. And since the hook (you sort of have to hear it to believe it, try not to laugh) wasn’t going to work on radio, they actually cut a totally different version for the B-side called “Brothers and Sisters”, complete with each “nigga” being replaced for “brother”, and “bitch” for “sister” throughout the song. It’s sort of interesting to think about how simply switching the two words around makes such a large difference – the sentiment of the song doesn’t change at all (either way, it’s a tribute to loyal friends).

So that’s what it is for this round. Hit the comments, I’m interested.

(oh, and even though I said this in the episode, let me put it in writing – don’t mistake this as ‘dex is hating on Japan/Japanese rap/rappers’. And I like Seeda (and what I’ve heard of Geek). I sorta wish I woulda done a proper Japanese rap show before I put this out, but I had to get this off my chest first. Look for an actual music episode coming soon.)

Yo. Welcome back to the program. I’ve actually got an interview/feature in the works (I’ll give you two guesses as to what the topic is), nurse but in the meantime, pharm here’s another concept episode.

This time, it’s all about rock-influenced tracks. Now I obviously could have gone with mashups (thanks for the tip on that Modest Mouse+Weezy track, Robin), but that would be cheating. Check the tracklist, and if you need more information on the DVD giveaway, check the post below.

Hevi Medal – 730 [dex ADHD edit]. The video for this cut is wild on some serious skurry insanity shit. If you want the full version of the song, check out their myspace page. myspace.com/mophevimedal.

Deaf In The Family – Southern Man feat Bavu Blakes. Apparently the original sample was what inspired the penning of Sweet Home Alabama, but fuck that song. Mr. Bavu, who I think dropped the “Blakes” thing, breaks down some race/class knowledge on some college-educated shit. You can listen to the whole album on the site, deafinthefamily.com.

Lil’ Flip – Rockstar. This song is pretty ridiculous. But don’t act like it isn’t catchy. This is why I love mixtapes – you always get these ridiculous-ass joints in the end of the CD that are better than half the rest of the tape. myspace.com/lilflip.

RJD2 – Exotic Talk.Please, Def Jux, don’t sue me. I have been fucking with RJD2‘s shit for a very long time now. I liked The Horror and alla that, but really Since We Last Spoke was the one that spent the most time in my Volvo, including that weepy-ass “Making Days Longer”. I hear he has a new album out, which I unfortunately haven’t heard, but I’m hearing positive things about it. He’s actually on tour now, so some of you herbs might want to catch him live. myspace.com/rjd2.

Deaf In The Family – Mr Blue Sky feat Scavone. I never thought someone would have the balls to flip this one, but these dudes actually did a pretty fucking bang-up job on this one. After you finish listening to the show, and entering the contest, get thee to a record store and cop the original ELO version. 7 minutes of overwrought, multithematic, hairsprayed rock godditude. Can I get a amen. deafinthefamily.com.

DCNY - Skye Blues. See that? Mr Blue Sky, Sky Blues. I am really, really clever, ouxu. Really clever. This is another group I used to rock back on my college show, and for some reason when I was mixing this show down the CD just jumped out at me. Recommended for the boom-bap fans. myspace.com/tresmons.

Swimmers – The Unofficial Swimmers Bootleg feat Lil Jon, E-40 and Keak da Sneak. Actually I don’t have a title for this. The Swimmers are not responsible for this soundclash. Thank you, nxt. myspace.com/swimmersband.

This week, capsule I (dex digital) take a break and Bartholomew James of the Quiet Storm on KPLT 92.7FM makes his hip-hop podcast debut.

Dem Franchize Boyz – Lean Wit It (Don Vito remix). Yes, seek you know this song, and yes, it’s a simple remix. But that won’t stop you from playing it out. majormoneyentertainment.com.

DK – Mask On. Apparently Bartholomew got a little confused, because this isn’t Luther, this is one of the strongest players in the East Coast mixtape game, DK. If you don’t listen to the words, you might actually miss what’s going on. myspace.com/dk730

Lil Jon and the Eastside Boys – Get Low (Ghosteo Remix). Another ridiculously simple remix, but I mean come on. Between the Sheets + anything = instant classic. I’m not sure where this “Gap Band” nonsense came from, but I can see why Bartholomew James would pick this cut out. myspace.com/ghosteo.

E-40 and Keak da Sneak – Tell Me When To Go (Trackademics remix). It’s hard to match the original, but if any of the myriad remixes that came out are close, this one’s right up there with them. myspace.com/trackademics.

Gwen Stefani, 4-Ize and Ludacris – Payback. Aaaaaand there goes our credibility. I’m actually not sure why Bartholomew played this one, considering that he didn’t even like it and he swore to me beforehand that he wouldn’t put any white people on the show. On the other hand, y’all know my weird tastes in music, so it’s not that I mind it going in here. 4-Ize has been a little slow with releases recently, maybe he’s working on something nowadays…soularsausage.com.

outro track: MR. MAKK – which is Kenny Keys’ band – Phrase 72. I had this one sitting on my desk, I’m guessing that ol’ BJ picked it up and took a fancy to it. myspace.com/kennykeys.

Well, I’d like to thank everyone for putting up with Bartholomew James this week – assuming I get over my cold and get my shit together in time, I should be back next week with a normal episode. Mr. James asked if you all could holler at him with some comments though, so if y’all feel like it, feel free to drop some here.